Recent News
The new CEO of Houston's only black-owned bank is counting on a budding relationship with Citigroup to expand its product set and boost profits. Laurie Vignaud joined Unity National Bank of Houston in January from Capital One, where she was senior vice president of community development banking. She took the helm two months after the failure of City National Bank of New Jersey in Newark cut the ranks of banks owned or operated by African Americans to 21 — about half of what existed before the financial crisis. Vignaud said she is convinced that the 34-year-old Unity must embrace a new... Read more
The CDFI Fund recently awarded 23 CDFIs Capital Magnet Fund awards for FY 2019. Among the awardees were Beneficial State Bank, Legacy Bank and Trust, United Bank, and Virginia Community Capital. The Capital Magnet Fund helps to create and preserve affordable housing for low-income families and economically distressed communities by attracting private capital. The Capital Magnet Fund awards competitive grants to CDFIs and qualified non-profit housing organizations. These organizations use the grants to develop, rehabilitate, reserve, and purchase affordable housing, particularly housing... Read more
The Crichlow family had been renting their modest home in North Miami for about 20 years. That changed last week, thanks to a Miami-Dade County-backed program targeting first-time homebuyers, and a loan from one of the largest black-owned banks in the United States, OneUnited Bank. The Crichlows say they found their dream home thanks to the program: A three-bedroom house in Miami Gardens with a "beautiful" kitchen and living room, according to Mrs. Crichlow, and a big yard. It is perfect for their two young sons. The gap between black and non-black homeownership rates remains... Read more
Dominik Mjartan become president and CEO of what would become Optus Bank, an organization with a historic but rocky past, in September 2017. The bank, founded in 1921 as Victory Savings Banks and then known as S.C. Community Bank, was at its lowest point, reeling from the Great Recession of 2008, mired in a mess of non-performing assets and on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s troubled bank list. How the bank got from there to record assets, a swanky new downtown headquarters and a swelling sense of optimism involves the commitment of long-time believers — and their money — along... Read more
Central Payments announced last month its seven-member advisory board for Falls Fintech, the organization's early-stage, onsite accelerator for upstart financial technology companies. Nikkee Rhody, Falls Fintech Managing Director and Co-founder, commented on the group: "This advisory board reflects our commitment to connecting accelerator participants with fintech pioneers and thought leaders, and this group's contributions have already been felt as we finalize plans for our inaugural cohort." Among the seven members is Bill Dana, Vice Chairman and former President/CEO at Central Bank of... Read more
City First Bank is thrilled to welcome Annie Donovan to the bank's Board of Directors. Donovan currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a national nonprofit that works with community-based partners to make investments in housing, businesses, jobs, education, safety and health. "We are extremely fortunate to have the benefit of Annie's extraordinary leadership; impressive intellect; and deep experience with innovative and successful approaches for developing healthy, sustainable communities," said Brian E. Argrett, President and CEO of... Read more
Although his own Treasury Department calls the Community Development Financial Institutions program a "thriving model of public-private partnership," President Trump on Monday once again proposed eliminating the program. The proposal was included in the Trump Administration's $4.8 Trillion FY21 budget released Monday. This year, the program received a $12 million increase, to $262 million, in the end-of-year spending deal enacted in December. The proposed cuts came even after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a House appropriations subcommittee in April that the administration had not... Read more
CDBA members VCC, Sunrise Banks, Beneficial State Bank, and Amalgamated Bank have been awarded Real Leaders Impact Awards. These awards honor the 100 top impact companies applying capitalism for greater profit and greater good. It's the annual ranking of positive impact companies in the world. These companies are driving a dynamic segment of the economy, bearing a new vision of capitalism that demonstrates every transaction is an opportunity for growth and a better world.
The Marketing AI Strategy Project Intern will conduct market and audience research to develop, build and implement solutions for increasing loan growth for a specific bank offered product. Additionally, they will assist the Impact Team with other tasks as needed in areas such as marketing support, internal communications, writing and/or customer experience.
Sunrise Banks Chief Brand Officer Becca Hoeft has received Ragan's Top Women in Communication Award, an honor that recognizes female communicators advancing their profession and accelerating growth for their organization. Hoeft was recognized in the "Leader" category and among roughly 100 other winners from major companies across the globe, including Aflac, Best Buy, Amazon, The FBI and Cisco. According to Ragan, the award is given to those who inspire others and are "changing the narrative" in the communications and public relations sector.
Backed by guarantee commitments from 10 philanthropic organizations across the United States and a large health care system, the Community Investment Guarantee Pool (the Pool) announced its formation. Guarantees are unfunded commitments from an organization's endowment that offer risk mitigation. The Pool, with guarantee commitments totaling $33.1 million, is a new tool for community development finance and the first of its kind in the U.S. It is expected to catalyze more than $150 million in new community investments in small businesses, climate and affordable housing. LOCUS Impact... Read more
A plan to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act should theoretically be welcomed by community development financial institutions, but many such organizations are raising alarm about a key component of the proposal written by two federal regulators. The framework drafted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would place a new emphasis on the dollar amount of CRA projects for banks to be in compliance. This worries CDFI loan funds, which specialize in making relatively small credits and worry the new plan will lead to less capital from bank... Read more
Urban and rural America lost branch banks at a similar rate from 2012 to 2017, according to the Federal Reserve. But the loss could have graver consequences for a larger proportion of rural areas.About 40 percent of rural counties experienced a net loss of branch banks from 2012 to 2017, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve System. The study found that 39 of these rural counties were "deeply affected" by the loss of banking services, meaning they had 10 or fewer bank branches in 2012 and lost at least half that number over the five-year period.
Americans desperately need help saving money, and fintechs are stepping up with intuitive apps that make saving simple and automatic. As consumers now funnel billions of dollars into these apps, banks and credit unions that don't join the crowd could be missing out on a big opportunity.
United Bank is proud to announce the addition of Elmo “Douglas” Ziebach, Jr. to their Board of Directors. The Monroeville, Alabama business owner and community leader begins his term body following service as a member of United Bank’s Monroe County Advisory Board. “We are very pleased to have Douglas join our board.” said Bob Jones, United Bank President and CEO. “His commitment to community service as well as his success in business make him eminently qualified as a bank director. Douglas’ business interest fit nicely with our service area and growth plans. United Bank’s dedication to... Read more
Arkadelphia's Southern Bancorp Inc. has joined the ranks of Certified B Corporations, an Arkansas first. The $1.4 billion-asset lender is among 10 banks and thrifts in the nation to gain the designation, which denotes the highest standards of social performance, transparency and legal accountability, balancing profit and purpose. Southern Bancorp changed its legal structure to become a benefit corporation in 2017. The move solidified its legal empowerment to pursue societal impact alongside profit. Arkansas was among seven states to enact B Corporation legislation in 2013.
Few of us think about how our banking affects the environment but, in reality, putting your money with a green-minded financial institution may be one of the best things you can do to help conserve land, protect air and water, save endangered wildlife and mitigate climate change. Banks (owned by shareholders) and credit unions (owned by the customers) lend and invest some of the deposited funds they are holding, which is how they're able to pay interest back to you. A bank or credit union that limits its investments to sustainability-oriented companies and institutions is well on its way... Read more
Teri Williams is President & COO and owner of OneUnited Bank, the largest Black owned bank in the country and supporter of the #BankBlack and #BuyBlack Movement. She is responsible for the Bank's strategic initiatives, as well as the day to day operations, including all retail branches, marketing, compliance, lending, information technology, customer support, legal, and human resources. Ms. Williams brings 30 years of financial services expertise including Bank of America and American Express, where she was one of the youngest Vice Presidents.
The Credit Insecurity Index is a new tool that helps to provide a more comprehensive view of credit access and community credit health. By moving beyond metrics that traditionally focus on residents without a credit file or score, this Index incorporates an additional assessment of residents who are "credit constrained," that is, unlikely to obtain credit at choice to manage emergencies, take advantage of opportunities, or invest in one's future. The report, Unequal Access to Credit: The Hidden Impact of Credit Constraints, explains how the Index provides a more complete picture of... Read more
Sourced from the above New York Fed article, this map is a vivid depiction of credit inequality in the United States. The dark areas show counties where a large proportion of the population has no access to credit, while the lighter areas are considered "credit-assured" or "credit-likely."